Wednesday, August 31, 2016

The Jungle Book

***DISCLAIMER***
The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I
encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion
(or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews
are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just
sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is
not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the
reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being
unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay.
4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews
feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on
Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional
live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching! No CG animals were harmed in the making of this film and this review.

The Jungle Book – 5 out of 5

I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the original 1967 Disney
animated film The Jungle Book.I don’t
hate it, mind you; it’s just not high on my list of Disney’s features.However, when I first saw the trailer for Jon
Favreau’s live-action adaptation of the story I was blown away.It looked incredible and I really wanted to
see it but life got in the way and I never got around to getting to the
theater.The nearly universal rave
reviews and the fact that Honest Trailers couldn’t even find a single thing
wrong with it in their video made me decide that this would be one of those
movies I would gamble on and just flat-out purchase it completely sight unseen.I have to tell you:After finally watching The Jungle Book, that
gamble was a complete win!

Replay value on this one is high, my friends!

Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a spunky man-cub left to be raised by
wolves and the jungle cat Bagheera (Ben Kingsley).He’s happy in his world but when the nasty
Shere Khan (Idris Elba) vows to eliminate the man-cub, Mowgli is forced to find
residence back among the humans.However, Shere Khan will not have his victory taken from him and Mowgli
is sent on the adventure of his life.Along the way, he befriends a loveable bear named Baloo (Bill Murray)
and a power-hungry Gigantopithecus named King Louie (Christopher Walken)—who
wants man’s knowledge of fire (or, as the animals call it The Red Flower) so he
can rule the entire jungle.Mowgli soon learns
of the depths Shere Khan will go to find him and he decides to run no more and
that he needs to face him once and for all.

Fun Fact: Idris Elba is so full of talent that special effects weren't needed inorder to turn him into Shere Khan. He literally transformed his body intoa tiger.

From the moment the film began to the time the credits
rolled, I was in complete awe of this movie.I’m going to admit it right now that this review is going to be a gushing
love-fest because this is about as perfect as a film and story can
get.Jon Favreau really crafted
something that is beautiful to look act, has absolutely astounding special
effects, offers up just the right amount of fun, heart and action and just
captured the spirit of Disney magic.

This is pure, industrial strength Disney magic, here people.

Right off the bat, this film gives you some of the most
amazing special effects I’ve ever seen.I’ve seen a lot of people complain on the internet about how computer
generated effects are ruining movies but you never could have made something
this incredible without them.I will
grant that some studios, production companies and directors will use CG as a
crutch and the result is lazy, awful looking effects but it’s very clear that
this film and everyone involved was actively trying to create something
majestic.The illusion of the talking
animals is all-encompassing as they move fluidly, talk and move in a way that
feels legitimate for the fantasy and they all look incredibly photo-realistic.This level of detail and soul infused into
the special effects is carried into the composited backgrounds that, like the
animals, look amazingly real and it helps to create landscapes that are
endlessly stunning to look at and create a reality that is believable for the
fiction at play.

Some of the animals' sizes are exaggerated but it didn't stop them from lookinginsanely realistic.

Fantastic special effects to make the creatures and beasts
look real is all fine and dandy but without a voice acting cast to give them
heart, emotion and soul the product could have been a bust.Ultimately, however, the cast assembled to
bring characters like Baloo, Bagheera and Shere Khan to life were fantastic!Idris Elba continues proves that he’s amazing in
everything he does as he is very threatening as the antagonistic tiger, Bill
Murray keeps showing how fun he is as the loveable Baloo, Ben Kingsley nailed the
over-bearing protector of Bagheera and Christopher Walken had this great mob
boss essence going for him as King Louie.

They even work in a nice cowbell reference for Louie.

Crossover idea: Kaa battles the anaconda fromAnaconda.

Additionally, there’s some exceptional voice acting from
Giancarlo Esposito and Lupita Nyong’o as Akela and Raksha; two of the wolves in
the pack that raised Mowgli.Scarlet
Johansson has this great combination of alluring and frightening as she brings
the treacherous snake Kaa to life and, finally, the film also brings in a
little bit of a tear jerk moment when you get to hear Garry Shandling—in his
last role—voice a little porcupine that offers up some very satisfying
comedic moments.Rest in peace, good
sir!

This is the caption to porcupine Garry's pic, the only caption to porcupine Garry'spic. Porcupine Garry called me up and asked me if I would write a caption.

Similar to the special effects on the animals and the voice
acting, this film could have easily been undone by a child actor who just can’t
sell the role of Mowgli.That simply was
not the case with Neel Sethi.For his
first acting part, Sethi really showed off some natural talent but, more so,
the kid was just naturally charismatic and endearing in his portrayal of the
man-cub.He had that right amount of
innocence, goofiness, heart, and determination to make the character someone
that you actively want to both watch on the screen, interacting with the other
characters, and strive to win and succeed in his journey and battle against
Shere Khan.To put it simply:Neel Sethi was just delightful as Mowgli.

This kid is just awesome. Let's get him with on the 2nd season of Stranger Thingsso he can be with other awesome kid actors.

Finally, this film tells a story that is deeper than the
cartoon and a little more accurate to the source material.Jon Favreau does a tremendous job of
delivering a plot that flows insanely well and is able to interject fun moments
and points of plot development without bringing the momentum to a screeching
halt.There’s plenty of heart showing up
all over the place to make you laugh and also make you claim that
something is in your eye and the action sequences are endlessly exciting and,
at times, very intense.The whole story
and plot never gets overly complicated but, at the same time, never
over-simplifies itself where it feels like it’s just kid’s stuff either.It struck a really great balance in this
department.

Bagheera looks upset. Quickly, someone find him a box and catnip!

I know saying The Jungle Book is perfect is setting the bar
high but it’s perfect in the fact that I found nothing about it substandard,
weak or disappointing.I was very
entertained with the story, I was dumbfounded by how amazing the special
effects and the visuals were and it had me laughing, crying and really just
having a blast every second of the running length.It really is a film that captures the very
essence of that Disney magic I mentioned earlier and then goes even further to deliver something
with heart, fun and special effects unlike anything before it.

Hakuna Matata! Oh and did I mention the fun Easter Eggs this film has?

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About Me

I'm a geek, an atheist (who is also an ordained reverend), a peanut butter and jelly enthusiast, a man who shares the same name with a popular character from "Parks & Rec" and feels he can't live up to the awesomeness of the fictional character, was proudly banned from Reddit, an occasional Shakespearean performer, and a stand up comic.
Have any questions, recommendations or wanna share any theories on various movies? Email me at RevRonMovies@gmail.com and I'll talk about them on my new Q&A segment!